PRETORIA July 17 1996 — Sapa

FEARS OF COMMUNISTS PROMPTED BRUTAL MURDERS:
RIGHTWINGER

Fears that whites would be killed "when the
communists take over" had prompted the brutal
murder of three people at Louis Trichardt in
Northern Province in 1991, the Truth Commission
heard on Wednesday.

Testifying before the commission's amnesty
committee in Pretoria, former enigineering
student Cornelius van Wyk said the throats of the
three victims had been cut after they were shot
dead.

He said he and Jurgen White were on the premises
to steal firearms for their ultra-rightwing
organisation, the Nationalist Socialist
Partisans.

Van Wyk is serving a life sentence for the three
murders, and has applied for amnesty. White and
another member of the organisation, Johannes
Grobbelaar, died after a clash with the police
near Upington in November 1991.

Van Wyk was convicted in September 1994 of the
murders of Makoarela Dobani, Wilson Dobani and
Maria Roux at Cloud's End, Louis Trichardt in
October 1991.

The rightwing organisation had only four members
and was set up in July 1991 to counter what they
saw as "an inevitable bloodbath when the
communists take over".

"We were absolutely convinced that all whites
would be killed," van Wyk said.

The organisation's aim was to acquire arms for
military resistance. It saw itself as becoming
the co-ordinator of all rightwing bodies for this
purpose.

After an earlier attempt to steal firearms at a
Louis Trichardt military base had been abandoned,
White suggested that they rob a private home at
Cloud's End. He had known the daugther of the
family, and said only a domestic worker would be
at home.

"We were planning to tie her up if she saw us,"
van Wyk said.

He and White arrived at the house in the early
hours of October 14, 1991. A car left the
premises at about 6am. White, who knew the
movements of the residents, told him the house
would be empty, van Wyk said.

They moved closer and took up position in shrubs
near the house. Makoarela Dobani was wiping the
verandah. When she realised something was amiss,
and White greeted her in har own language.

"She turned around and he shot her in the back,"
van Wyk said. "He then stepped forward and cut
her throat.

"At that point Wilson Dobani came around the
corner and saw his wife lying on the ground.
White shot at him but missed. He shouted at me to
shoot, after which I chased and shot him.

They then entered the house and were rifling
through cupboards in search if firearms.

"At some stage I heard him slamming the door of a
cupboard closed before shooting through it," said
van Wyk. "I instinctively also fired off a shot
through the door.

"Only later on I saw Mrs Roux had been in the
cupboard. White opened the door and cut her
throat."

Van Wyk said he was horrified at this act.

"We have been fighting for whites and Afrikaners,
and now we have murdered one of our own people."

The death of the two black people did not really
sadden him, van Wyk said. "But to see Mrs Roux
die was horrible."

Van Wyk, 26, testified that he had passed matric
with distinction and studied engineering at
Pretoria University with a bursary. He quit his
studies after six months, partly because he
wanted to devote more time to his political
activities.

Since his arrest, he had obtained a BA degree,
and was studying an honours degree in psychology
in prison.

Jean du Plessis, who was the leader of the
National Socialist Partisans, has also applied
for amnesty.

He was in September 1994 jailed for 12 years for
crimes including robbery, the theft of weapons
for the SA National Defence Force, and the
illegal possession of firearms.